Police have been granted a warrant for the arrest of the Manchester Arena bomber's brother in connection with the devastating attack in May.

Officers have called on the Libyan authorities to extradite Hashem Abedi. He is a younger sibling of Salman Abedi, who carried out the attack at the Ariana Grande concert, killing 22 people.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) made the announcement, with the younger brother currently being detained in Libya.

Image:Armed police at Manchester Arena after the explosion which killed 22 people

A spokesperson said: "I can now say that following a review of the evidence by the CPS, we have applied for and been granted a warrant for the arrest of Hashem Abedi.

"The arrest warrant relates to the murder of 22 people, the attempted murder of others who were injured and conspiracy to cause an explosion.

"The CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) has now requested that Libyan authorities consider his extradition back to the United Kingdom. We are grateful for the Libyan authorities considering this request."

The force also revealed more than 500 people were injured during the terror attack on 22 May.

Image:The Manchester suicide bomber Salman Abedi

Officers said among those who survived the blast, 16 were seriously injured - with injuries including paralysis, loss of limbs, internal injuries and serious facial injuries. They said many had to have complicated plastic surgery as a result.

As part of the investigation so far, 23 people have been arrested, 30 addresses have been searched, 11,000 items have been seized and 16 terabytes of data has been examined.

GMP said it took 1,300 statements, with more than 5,000 people referenced in the inquiry.

2:17

Video:May: Manchester falls silent in memory of victims

Officers are still working through 16,000 hours of CCTV and more than eight million lines of telephone communications data.

The spokesperson said: "This investigation is still running at a very fast pace. We are incredibly grateful for the support of the hundreds of people affected by this horrible attack and our officers are constantly moved by their stories and by their accounts.

"We are also grateful for the huge support of the public not only in this investigation but their continued calls to policing about suspicious activity."